Sunday, July 11, 2010

Black Beauty

They say that youth is wasted on the young. That may be so, but based on my reading of the last few weeks, so-called children’s books are also wasted on the children! I am glad I have returned to reading.

After following Buck's adventures in The Call of the Wild, I moved onto Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, another classic that I had never read before. Sewell, an English invalid who cared deeply about the horses she depended on for mobility, paints a vivid picture of 19th century English life from a horse’s eye point of view, from the lush country estates of the aristocracy to the crowded and poverty-stricken streets of Victorian London.

Whereas Buck could eventually flee human society to follow the call of the wild, Black Beauty, like most of us, has no such option. Although raised in great comfort, as time goes by he must toil under a variety of good, bad, and indifferent masters. He has almost no control over his circumstances, but endures as best he can.

In The Call of the Wild, Buck forms a strong bond with one of his many masters, John Thornton. The parallel in Sewell’s novel is Jerry Barker, a hardworking cab driver who owns Black Beauty for some years. Jerry is a thoroughly decent man, who treats his horses, family, and fellow drivers with dignity and good humor.

The world depicted in the book, however, is often far from decent. There is a great deal of cruelty and suffering to be found, much of it driven by ignorance, selfishness, or the dictates of economics. The latter are especially harsh, and result in both horses and men being worked to death for the sake of a few coins.

Sewell was raised as a Quaker, and remained religious throughout her life. Several versions of the good Samaritan story occur, and Sewell is clear in her conviction that we all have a moral obligation to do right, and that to do nothing when wrong is being done is to condone it.

Sewell wrote the book primarily in the hope that its publication could improve the treatment of horses. She paints a vivid picture of the sufferings of the "dumb animals", a worthy goal, but beyond that her novel is a clarion call for decency in general. I am glad that I read it.

6 comments:

You should have kids! They're a great excuse to indulge in children's books. I know have a pretty sizeable Dr. Seuss collection, which is secretly for me.

I liked this comment:"The world depicted in the book, however, is often far from decent. There is a great deal of cruelty and suffering to be found, much of it driven by ignorance, selfishness, or the dictates of economics. The latter are especially harsh, and result in both horses and men being worked to death for the sake of a few coins"

And I also like the sense of optimism I feel from you regarding humanity, that perhaps if we remove the dictates of our current economic system more of us will display the decency that lies within.

About the economic side of things, unfortunately it seems like things in the modern world are not so far removed from life in Victorian England that Sewell was writing about. One recent example would be the deathof Jiang Xiaodon, a Chinese trainee in Japan on a government sponsored training program, who was worked to death by the company he was working for.

Just like Sewell was inspired to put pen to paper to try and right the wrongs around her, unfortunately there are plenty of things around us today that need fixing too.

I loved Jack London books when I was younger and childrens books often give me more satisfaction and joy than most books for "grown ups". How interesting about Sewell! I've read a lot about Jack London and how he too suffered from depression. I have Bipolar disorder II so I can totally relate with a lot of what you say and read. Books along with my cats, help me survive ; )

Hi Wendy,Thanks for dropping by! I definitely know what you mean about kids books. I am getting a lot more enjoyment out of them than books designed for grown-ups, and I don't think it is just my depression-reduced attention span either.

I am currently reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and really enjoying it. Depression is not a lot of fun, but I guess I should be grateful that it has motivated me to go back and rediscover the classics.

BTW, I like your icon! I'm a True Blood fan too, and am enjoying how season 3 is going so far.

I love Mark Twain both for his personal life and his wonderful works. "Tom" reminds me of a Peter Pan archetype, having to face a N. American similar to Captain Hook, having a "Wendy" in his life with Becky and having a run-away slave to protect and give him wisdom. And of course, Huck! One of my fave. fictional characters ever. I even named a dog I once had after him.

"T.B." is definitely one of my fave. t.v. shows ever and I think I like this season the best. I love Were's and want to see more of Eric and Sookie ; )

Hi Wendy,Huckleberry Finn is next on my list after Tom Sawyer! Twain's wry observations of human nature are so true to life. I just hope my blog entries are not like the moralising-yet-dripping-with-insincerity compositions presented by the young ladies of the village!

For me, it is hard to top the first season of TB. I wasn't a big fan of the second season and the whole Maryanne plotline, for me it was like one of those Buffy episodes where the whole world changes and then everyone just forgets about it. And her just magically over-riding everyone's will was really uninteresting to me.

What I like about TB is when the supernatural aspects, like vamps and weres, fit into the world as we know it. Prejudice, ignorance, addiction, human weakness, political correctness, and religious fanaticism - and people's own natures leading them to their fate.

And while more low-brow, the large amount of sex, violence, and treachery makes it very watchable too!